• TJX (NYSE:TJX) posted a larger-than-anticipated profit as demand for discounted consumer products continued. The firm said it sees fourth-quarter earnings of 65 cents to 71 cents a share from continuing operations

• Saks (NYSE:SKS) reported a surprise quarterly profit

• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares rose 3.0%, and led the gainers on the DJIA, after Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and UBS (NYSE:UBS) recommended the shares.  Morgan Stanley's analyst raised the price target on the stock due to encouraging demand for Windows 7 and upbeat expectations for holiday season demand.  UBS' analyst placed a $34 price target on the shares

• Barclays Capital (NYSE:BCS) raised ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) to "overweight"

• Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) offered a slightly downside fourth-quarter guidance of 24 cents a share ex-items

• Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) said it sees fourth-quarter earnings of 14 cents to 15 cents a share, versus Street estimates of 15 cents a share

• BMO Capital downgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to "market perform"

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• Home Depot (NYSE:HD) topped estimates by a nickel as earnings for the third quarter reached 41 cents, on inline revenues of $16.36 billion, down 8%. Comparable sales fell 6.9%. The company issued 2010 guidance of $1.55, slightly ahead of $1.53 projections. According to the firm, "There is still a great deal of pressure in the housing and home improvement markets, though there are some positive signs of stabilization."

• ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) shares were upgraded to "overweight" at Barclays Capital (NYSE:BCS)

• A regulatory filing showed Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) nearly doubled its Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) holdings; added almost 112 million Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) shares; the filing showed a 1.28 million holding of ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) shares; and 3.2 million shares of SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI)

• UBS (NYSE:UBS) CEO Grubel outlined an ambitious goal of annual pre-tax profits of $14.89 billion over the next 3-5 years

• Dillard's (NYSE:DDS) reported a smaller than expected third quarter loss,

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This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Nelson Schwartz (HeraldTribune.com): Inside the global gold frenzy, November 8, 2009. Long considered the ultimate refuge for nervous investors, gold has climbed as the dollar has steadily weakened, budget deficits have expanded in the United States and Europe, and central banks have continued to pump trillions of dollars into weak economies, creating fears of another asset bubble that will ultimately pop. “It’s not that gold has changed, but gold buyers have changed,” said Suki Cooper, a precious-metals strategist for Barclays Capital. “It’s a structural shift we’re seeing on the investing side, from Asian central banks right down to individual investors buying ingots and coins.”

• William Rees-Mogg (Times Online): Which will come out on top: paper or gold? November

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(click on pictures for better viewing)

It is indeed an old adage that while goods things are to be preferred over bad things it is possible to get too much of the former. Looking at recent comments from the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia it is not difficult to imagine how these, albeit old and worn, pearls of wisdom may well have inspired Mr. Stevens in his effort to tiptoe the thigthrope between signalling the intention to raise rates into an expected economic recovery on the one side and trying to prevent the Aussie shoot of on helium into the sun with wings of wax on the other.

(quote Bloomberg)

Australia’s central bank Governor Glenn Stevens signaled a surge in the nation’s currency to near parity with the U.S. dollar has given him scope to slow the pace of future

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Exchange-traded notes are like the forgotten stepchildren of the ETF industry: unloved and overlooked. Investors (particularly taxable investors) are missing out.

According to the National Stock Exchange, U.S. ETNs had $6.9 billion in assets at the end of September. ETFs were literally 100 times more prevalent, with $697 billion in assets. That included $62 billion just in long commodity ETFs.

That’s just crazy. And it highlights investors’ irrational fear of the ETN product structure.

I remember when ETNs first came to market in 2006: Investors couldn’t get enough of them. Barclays Capital launched the iPath Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index ETN (NYSEArca: DJP) and it quickly gathered assets.

The reason was simple: ETNs offered two huge advantages over commodity ETFs.

First, they promised perfect tracking. If you bought an ETN, you would receive the full return of the benchmark, minus the fund’s expenses. Period. That’s handy, since commodity ETFs have been more prone to tracking error

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Its almost comical to see the big banks coming out of the woodwork with their opinions on how high gold is going to go now. If you are a trader (I am not) maybe that means its time for a little pullback. Certainly is alot of confidence oozing from this article. Gold, ‘Off The Charts’, May Target $1,500: Technical Analysis By Glenys Sim Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — Investors should hold onto long positions in gold as bullion has “significant upside potential” to reach as high as $1,500 an ounce, Barclays Capital said, citing trading patterns. “Having rallied ‘off the charts’, we are left to resort to projections and extrapolated trendlines to forecast where the move might stop,” Jordan Kotick, global head of technical analysis at Barclays Capital, wrote in a note e-mailed today. So-called trendlines are used to determine momentum and are found ...

Asian economies are recovering faster than previously thought and will lead the charge out of the worst global downturn since the 1930s, according to new forecasts by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – a Manila-based institution that promotes economic and social progress in the Asia-Pacific region.

After slashing its forecast for the region in March, the ADB reversed course in its updated Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2009. The bank said developing economies in Asia would grow by 3.9% this year, up from its previous forecast of 3.4%.

“Despite worsening conditions in the global economic environment, developing Asia is poised to lead the recovery from the worldwide slowdown,” said ADB Chief Economist Jong-Wha Lee.

However, the growth will not be evenly distributed. Economic growth in East Asia will be driven largely by China’s dynamic economy. But economic growth in Southeast Asia will be sluggish, because the recoveries of Vietnam and

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Friday September 11, 2009

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AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) and AllianceBernstein L.P. today reported that during the month of August, preliminary assets under management increased by approximately $13 billion, or 2.8%, to $482 billion at August 31, 2009, as positive investment returns were partially offset by modest net outflows.

Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:MRH) announced today that Chris Harris, President & CEO of Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., is scheduled to present at the Barclays Capital Global Financial Service Conference in New York City on September 16, 2009 at 12:00 pm Eastern Time.

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) CEO Dan Hesse will participate

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Thursday September 10, 2009

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SigmaTron International, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGMA), an electronic manufacturing services company, today reported revenues and earnings for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2009. Revenues decreased to $26.3 million in first quarter of fiscal 2010 from $38.5 million for the same quarter in the prior year. Net income decreased to a loss of ($402,475) for the period ended July 31, 2009 compared to a profit of $579,324 for the same period in the prior year. Basic earnings (loss) per share and diluted earnings (loss) per share from operations for the quarter ended July 31, 2009, were both ($0.11), compared

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Increased activity on the merger and acquisition front and promising signs that the economic downturn is easing sent U.S. stocks higher Tuesday as traders, back after a long weekend, picked up energy and commodity stocks.  With traders turning to riskier bets, Treasury prices sank, sending corresponding yields higher.  Positive factors sent gold prices beyond the $1,000 per ounce mark, before prices eased a little to settle at $997.80.  Dollar declined 1.1% to $1.4498 per euro.  Copper prices gained 3.1% on improved global recovery prospects.

The 30-share Dow Jones industrial average rose 56 points, or 0.6%, to 9,497.34 and the S&P 500 index added 9 points, or 0.9%, to 1,025.39, its highest close in 11 months.  The tech-heavy NASDAQ added 19 points, or 0.94%, to close at 2,037.77 points. On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outpaced those that declined three to one on volume of 1.32 billion shares. 

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